JAKARTA — Despite an encouraging improvement in the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) for October 2025, investment managers in Indonesia remain cautious. While they acknowledge the potential for growth in consumer stocks, this positive data alone isn’t enough to trigger a significant shift in their investment strategies. Instead, many managers are maintaining a selective approach, prioritizing issuers with robust fundamentals and attractive valuations.
The uplift in CCI, while a positive economic indicator, hasn’t immediately swayed investment managers to incorporate consumer-based stocks more heavily into their mutual fund portfolios. Their reluctance stems from a deeper analytical process that goes beyond surface-level sentiment.
Rudiyanto, Director of Panin Asset Management, emphasized that their approach to crafting equity and mixed mutual funds avoids mere speculation based on positive sentiment. Instead, Panin focuses intently on individual stock prices, the company’s intrinsic fundamental performance, and its long-term business outlook.
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Rudiyanto further clarified that Panin’s investment strategy is deeply rooted in evaluating stock-by-stock performance rather than broad sectoral sentiment. He highlighted a common disconnect: “Sometimes, the macro outlook and the performance of specific stocks don’t necessarily align. Panin’s investment strategy isn’t sectoral; it’s more about individual stock selection. Regardless of the macro outlook, we pay closer attention to valuation, net profit, and the company’s future outlook,” he stated on Wednesday, November 12, 2025.
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Concurrently, Samuel Kesuma, Chief Investment Officer-Equity at Manulife Aset Manajemen Indonesia, explained their interest in consumer issuers for mutual fund formulation. This interest, however, is primarily driven by recent government cash stimuli, rather than solely by improving consumer data. He also pointed to various pro-growth policies and anticipated interest rate reductions, which are expected to bolster purchasing power and, consequently, the national economy.
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“Nevertheless, our strategy remains selective, focusing on consumer issuers with solid fundamentals and appealing valuations, rather than simply following sector trends,” Kesuma commented on the same day. Echoing Panin’s stance, Samuel underscored their preference for assessing individual stock performance over sectoral trends when building mutual funds, particularly concerning the fundamental health of the issuers.
Regarding the consumer sector, Samuel acknowledged that weakened purchasing power remains a significant challenge for consumer issuers. Despite this, he sees potential for improved performance among consumer companies, supported by various stimuli and a generally improving economic outlook. “Weakened purchasing power is indeed still a challenge, but the outlook for economic improvement and fiscal policies provides room for the consumer sector to remain a part of equity mutual fund portfolios, alongside the financial sector,” he added.
It is worth noting that Bank Indonesia (BI) recorded the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) at 121.2 in October 2025, marking a 6.2 basis point (bps) increase from 115 in September 2025. This rise successfully ended a consecutive two-month decline in the CCI.
The CCI serves as a crucial indicator of consumer sentiment towards current economic conditions and their future expectations. It is a valuable tool for forecasting trends in household consumption and savings. With an official benchmark value of 100, the Consumer Confidence Index of 121.2 in October 2025 firmly places consumer sentiment in the optimistic zone, well above the reference point.
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Summary
Despite an encouraging rise in Indonesia’s Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) to 121.2 in October 2025, investment managers remain cautious about broadly investing in consumer stocks. They prioritize a selective approach, focusing on individual issuers with strong fundamentals, attractive valuations, and a solid long-term business outlook. This strategy emphasizes stock-by-stock performance and avoids mere speculation based on positive sentiment.
While government cash stimuli and anticipated interest rate reductions are seen as potential boosts to purchasing power, managers like Manulife Aset Manajemen Indonesia still apply a selective strategy. They seek consumer issuers with solid fundamentals and appealing valuations, acknowledging that weakened purchasing power remains a challenge. Nevertheless, an improving economic outlook and supportive fiscal policies suggest the consumer sector can still be a viable component of equity mutual fund portfolios.